In the pursuit of economic and environmentally responsible or “green” electrical power generation, a variety of technology and associated systems utilizing moving water as a source of energy for generating electrical power have been developed and are typically referred to as hydro electric power generation technologies and systems according to the art. In early examples of hydro electric power utilization, water wheels were used to capture the movement of running water in rivers or streams and to power rotating electrical generators to generate electrical power.
In more recent applications known in the art, hydro electric power generation systems have implemented man-made dam structures in order to impound a man-made reservoir of water, which is then gradually released to power hydro turbine generators to generate electrical power. However, such known hydro electric dam applications typically require the flooding of large areas of land in order to create a sufficiently large reservoir behind a dam in order to be effective for generating electrical power, and such man-made reservoirs may have significant negative impacts on environmental characteristics of the surrounding area due to the required flooding of the reservoir, as well as the hydrological changes imposed on the areas upstream and downstream of the hydroelectric dam such as water flow changes due to the restricted and variable water flow released from the dam during power generation.
Hydro electric generation systems utilizing dams and man-made reservoirs created by flooding of land areas have also been adapted to provide for storage of power generating capacity in the form of water pumped from a lower reservoir to an upper man-made reservoir which may then later be released to power a turbine generator to generate electrical power. Such water energy storage systems are also known as pumped storage hydro electric systems according to the art. However, such pumped storage systems typically also require the construction of a dam and flooding of a land area to create one or more man-made reservoirs, which may have a significant negative environmental impact on the affected area.
Additionally, the adoption and integration of a wide range of different types of electrical power generation systems into the modern electrical supply grid of most industrially developed regions has led to significant issues relating to optimizing the mix of electrical power generation systems available, and accounting for the particular operation, adjustability and availability variables associated with electrical power generation systems in relation to the varying electrical power demands of electrical grid users. Such grid optimization has been further complicated with the increasing adoption of new and “green” electrical power generation systems such as solar, wind and tidal power generation systems, which may typically provide intermittent and varying power production depending on natural fluctuations of renewable energy sources.
Accordingly, there is a need for a hydro electric energy generation structure, such as may be suitable for use in conjunction with other energy generation systems, that addresses some of the limitations of existing hydro electric energy generation designs according to the art.